Villagers are an Irish band from Dublin fronted by Conor J. O'Brien.
The… Read Full Bio ↴Villagers are an Irish band from Dublin fronted by Conor J. O'Brien.
They have performed at several music festivals and toured with Tracy Chapman, Bell X1 and Tindersticks. They have one EP, titled Hollow Kind (2009). Their debut album Becoming a Jackal was released in 2010 and was shortlisted for that year's Mercury Prize and their second album {Awayland} was released in 2013.

Conor O'Brien formed Villagers after the break-up of his previous band The Immediate. The very next day, O'Brien wrote the first song after waking up with a hangover. O'Brien's time as a guitarist in Cathy Davey's band was also critical to the development of his style as he had never before performed alongside anyone outside of The Immediate. Villagers gave their first live performance as a support act with The Chapters at a show in Whelan's in November 2008. At that point the band had previously only rehearsed together on two occasions. They had only seven songs, written by O'Brien and passed on to the rest of the band to learn.

Villagers performed on the seventh series of RTÉ Two's Other Voices television programme in 2009. The band's debut EP, titled Hollow Kind, was released in February 2009. It contained four tracks, all of which were written by O'Brien and performed by him too. The EP brought comparisons with Bright Eyes and Sparklehorse. Villagers then went on tour. They were a support act for Neil Young and toured across Europe with Tracy Chapman.

Villagers appeared at several festivals in 2009. They supported Bell X1 when they performed at Live at the Marquee in Cork on June 26, 2009. They performed at several music festivals in Ireland, including on the Sunday of Oxegen 2009, at Indie-pendence on August 2 and at Electric Picnic 2009, as well as at Latitude Festival in the UK. The Irish Times's Jim Carroll recommended their performance in the Body Soul Arena at Electric Picnic 2009 as "A must-see for those who dig ragged pop, eerie folk and heartfelt, emotional songs and sounds". They headlined Hard Working Class Heroes in 2009, with O'Brien attracting the ire of the audience when he requested some quiet during the performance. They gave a live performance at The Music Show in Dublin's RDS in October 2009.

The debut single of Villagers was "On a Sunlit Stage" and was released in October 2009.
On January 15, 2010, Villagers represented Ireland at the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, the Netherlands. They were involved in efforts to raise funds in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. They embarked on a tour with Tindersticks in March 2010 and released the single "Becoming a Jackal" on April 17, 2010. A debut album Becoming a Jackal was released in Ireland on 14 May 2010, with a UK release in May and a US release due on 8 June 2010. The album immediately went to number one on both the Irish Albums Chart and the Irish Indie Albums Chart. It proceeded to continuously top the indie chart.

Said by Conor J. O’Brien himself:
- “Ultimately, I’ve learned that a song is not an isolated thing. You have to wash the dishes before you write a song. It should never be taken too seriously. It must be treated with joy and humour, regardless of the subject matter,” muses Conor, as he strokes his hairless chin.
- “The aim is to feel the songs out. If I don’t surprise myself, then it is a worthless endeavour. Indeed, I would apply this attitude to all aspects of this project. The songs are quite decisive, but I have no idea what I am doing, or where I am going.” Again, he strokes his chin, this time with a look of resigned confusion. “Once the songs took shape, I asked some friends of mine to help me play them to people. When they kindly agreed, I decided that we would present ourselves as ‘Villagers’ – I don’t really know why. I think I like the name because it doesn’t offend the songs.” With this, he puts his clothes back on and bids me farewell. On returning to my office, I slip on a banana peel and subsequently die.

Summer's Song
Villagers Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The sun is overhead
And your feelings fade
The summer's in the air
And you're runnin' away

The summer's song
Is in your heart
And summer's song

Is in your heart

Wherever you go, I will follow
We'll leave it all behind
So alive
We'll climb the sunlight one beam at a time

Another open road
And your foot on the gas
Another memory load
Of the summer's past

The summer's song
Is in your heart
And summer's song
Is in your heart

Wherever you go, I will follow
We'll leave it all behind
So alive
We'll climb the sunlight one beam at a time

(Oh, summer's song)

The summer's song
Is in your heart
And summer's sweet lament
Is in your heart

The summer's song
Is in your heart
And summer's song
Is in your heart

The summer's sweet lament
Is in your heart
And summer's sweet lament
Is in your heart
And summer's sweet lament
Is in your heart

And summer's sweet lament
Is in your heart

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Villagers' song "Summer's Song" exude a sense of wanderlust and longing for adventure, and the freedom that comes with chasing the sun during the summer season. The opening lines "The sun is overhead, and your feelings fade" suggest that the hot summer weather can make us feel a little lethargic, and perhaps force us to confront some of the emotions we've been avoiding. However, the chorus, "The summer's song is in your heart," suggest that there's a certain thrill that comes with the summertime, even though it may be fleeting. This motif is repeated throughout the song, where the singer affirms that he'll follow wherever his partner's go, and leave behind any memories of their past.

The second stanza calls to mind the classic idea of the summer road trip, of soaking in the scenery at blazing speeds, and escaping reality for a while. The image of "climbing the sunlight one beam at a time" is particularly evocative, as it conjures the almost impossible feeling of chasing the sun, of always wanting to soak up every last drop of warmth and light that the summer has to offer. The final lyrics take a more wistful tone, as the chorus shifts from "Is in your heart" to "Summer's sweet lament is in your heart." Here, the singer seems to suggest that the summer is never long enough, that it always feels like it's slipping away just as we've gotten used to it.

Overall, "Summer's Song" is a beautifully crafted tribute to the season of growth and change, reflecting the transient nature of summer love and adventures while also celebrating the sense of freedom that comes with it.

Line by Line Meaning

The sun is overhead
It's daytime

And your feelings fade
Your emotions are becoming less intense

The summer's in the air
It feels like summer

And you're runnin' away
You're trying to escape something

The summer's song
The feeling of summer

Is in your heart
You feel it within you

Wherever you go, I will follow
I'll always be there for you

We'll leave it all behind
We'll forget about everything else

So alive
We're full of energy

We'll climb the sunlight one beam at a time
We'll keep moving forward every day

Another open road
Yet another way to travel

And your foot on the gas
You're in control of the speed

Another memory load
Another collection of memories

Of the summer's past
From past summers

And summer's sweet lament
Even though summer is enjoyable, we also feel sadness

Is in your heart
It's an internal feeling

And summer's sweet lament
Even though summer is enjoyable, we also feel sadness

Is in your heart
It's an internal feeling

And summer's sweet lament
Even though summer is enjoyable, we also feel sadness

Is in your heart
It's an internal feeling

Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Written by: Conor Joseph Patrick O'brien

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Musical Whisper

5y↑6

Love this. Have it on replay 🤙🏼💕

BAP

Just listened to this song while switching through stations in the car and gotta say its pretty good. Definitely will download it for my personal Playlist 😌.